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Tommen quickly left to fetch the oil. Her stepmother looked to be having a lot of discomfort. Edwina took her hand in hers, giving it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. She requested some water, and Edwina rose.
"I shan't be long," she said at the door. When Edwina returned with a glass of water that she had obtained herself, Prudence was not in the room.
“Good evening, Your Grace,” a man said from a corner of the dimly lit room. He stood with his back to her, and when he turned, Edwina dropped the glass she was holding and it shattered at her feet, the water spilling in every direction.
"Johnny!" she gasped, her knees growing weak, while her heart thundered in her chest.
"Edwina." He approached her with a wintry smile on his face.
"No, it cannot be," she choked out. "You are dead. This cannot be real. I am seeing things." She took a step back, shivering.
"No, you are not seeing anything that is unreal. I am very much alive. The stable was real, too." He took a step closer.
"The letter said you were dead." She wrapped her arms about herself.
"It was false. I sent it," he said solemnly.
"Why?" Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.
"I had to do it to protect you." He was in front of her now.
"By lying to me?" she asked, growing livid now that she was certain she was not seeing a ghost. "By stomping on my heart with no regard for what would happen to me afterward?" She still shook, but not from fear. "Iwaitedfor you, John. Every hour of every day, and when that news came… did you ever care for me?"
"Of course, I did, Edwina." He tried to take her hand but she stepped away from him.
Everything was making sense now. "You sent those threats."
"Threats?" He gave her an incredulous look.
"Do not lie to me, John!" she snapped. "The notes I received were written in your hand."
He was silent for a moment before admitting that he had sent them with a nod. "Do you know how difficult it was for me to see you with another man?" he asked.
"Difficult? You abandoned me! That man is my husband now, and I love him." She felt strong saying the words aloud.
John's countenance hardened. "You think you have the perfect little life now, eh?" He was an entirely different person now. "Does he know about your past, Edwina? Does he know about me?"
Chapter Thirty-Seven
She did not answer him.
"Ah, I see you have been lying to him." He chuckled darkly, causing her body to stiffen.
"I wonder what he would think if he discovered your little secrets, Edwina. If he discovered what you allowed me to do to you."
"What are you talking about?" Edwina hated the uncertainty she heard in her voice. She was more afraid than she thought.
"Oh, I am sure you know exactly what I am talking about. Do you think your Duke would still keep you by his side when I tell him of our little adventures?"
"Why are you doing this, John?" Edwina asked, unable to believe that the man before her was the same as the one who had made her all those promises years ago. Tears burned her eyes.
"But of course, there is a way you can prevent that from happening." He ignored her question and continued, regarding her expectantly now.
"What do you want?" she asked him at length, swallowing.
"I am a Baron, Edwina," he began. "Now, it might be the lowest rank in the peerage, but with it comes certain responsibilities. A certain image that one has to maintain. Sadly, it is growing more difficult for me to bear those burdens with my declining fortune."
"You want money," Edwina said, her tone flat. Nothing surprised her anymore.
